John Kennedy has backed Celtic to regain some European pride by beating Hapoel Tel-Aviv in the Europa League on Wednesday. The former Celtic defender, who retired through injury last month, said the team could now go on a run after beating St Mirren on Saturday.
Celtic need six points and Hamburg to lose both their remaining games if they are to squeeze through to the next round but Kennedy says Tony Mowbray’s side can get off to a good start against their Israeli opponents. Kennedy was part of the Celtic side that forged a fearsome home reputation in Europe under Martin O’Neill.
"In European nights at Parkhead the atmosphere is electric," Kennedy said.
"This season has just been maybe a bit of bad luck and the team has not been playing as well as they could.
"But you have much the same players that were there the last year or two so it's no different.I think they can certainly recapture the form and go on a good run of results and hopefully in Europe we can get back to winning ways
Kennedy played in the Celtic side that eliminated Barcelona in the Europa League’s predecessor, the UEFA Cup in 2004 and spoke in glowing terms about the support on big nights.
"It was great, (although) obviously our away form wasn't great even back then,” he said.
"But on the home games it was a great night to be out there on the field playing. To be part of that is really special and something that everyone at Celtic strives for."
Celtic have lost three of their four European home matches under Tony Mowbray, having drawn against Rapid Vienna. However, after a difficult spell where the side won just twice in 10 games, the side ran out 3-1 winners against St Mirren in the SPL on Saturday to set themselves up for the visit of Hapoel.
Last updated: 01 December 2009, 10:23
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